


Shot Through The Hart

by UnicornAffair



Series: The Little Moments of Pink and Yellow [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, also spoilers for Jurassic Park 3, spoilers for the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 01:21:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10525917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: Five times Kimberly had a hold on Trini's heart. The Yellow Power Ranger was all but helpless as her crush on her teammate continued to escalate.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have already watched Power Rangers twice and am planning on seeing it again for a third time. Absolutely obsessed with it right now. Love all of the characters so much but I'm really happy that there's such a growing excitement for Kimberly/Trini.
> 
> I really just wanted to contribute something to this great ship and hopefully growing fandom.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy

Angel Grove was never the same after Rita Repulsa’s attack...literally, the small town had been in complete shambles. As a community people pulled together and donated their time and resources to rebuild after such an attack. Terrible things have a way of bringing a group of people together. The newly formed Rangers were inseparable, which garnered a lot of attention at school. Jason Scott hanging out with the likes of Billy Cranston? Kimberly Hart and the nobodies? It didn’t bother them. They knew no matter what that they would have eachother’s backs, to hell what other people said about them.

After school, if they weren’t training or helping rebuild parts of the cities the five teenage heroes spent their time together. Tonight they all agreed that they would go to Billy’s house for a movie night. Staying in was a nice change of pace from their usual social scene. That and Mrs. Cranston always welcomed the group with smiles. She was so happy that her son had found his people that really cared about him, especially the likes of Jason and Kimberly...she quickly grew to know Zack and Trini as well.

Tonight Billy presented the group four Jurassic Park movies with a grin on his face. The Blue Ranger had become absolutely obsessed with the idea of dinosaurs and excitably shared anything new he learned with the others the instant he found out. He claimed that if they understood their jurassic animals that they could unlock new ways for the Zords to attack in a more fluid motion. Even if anyone in the group happened to not like his movie choice, who could say no to Billy?

Because each of the movies were so long, the group decided that it was best to just make it a sleepover. As long as Zack made it back to his house to help his mother, it would be fine. Trini’s mother was just thrilled that she was finally making friends.

So there they were in the Cranston living room. Billy sat on a bean bag chair closest to the television a bowl of popcorn in hand as he quoted the more famous lines as they were being said. Zack stretched himself out on the floor next to him, his chin resting on folded arms which rested on a pillow. He was always a big fan of these movies when he was a kid. Jason sat back in a reclining chair. Billy had informed them earlier that it was his father’s favorite chair...mostly to put extra pressure on Jason, there would be no spilling on Mr. Cranston’s chair.

That left the girls to share the couch. Trini sat at the end with the working recliner so she could stretch out her legs. Kimberly sat by her side so they could share an obnoxiously large bowl of popcorn. Throughout the movies the girls would constantly brush their hands accidentally, sharing shy smiles and apologies. Trini was so happy that they watched the movies in the dark, she could feel her face getting hot if she chanced a glance in Kimberly’s direction.

At least the boys provided some commentary to distract her from her lingering thoughts to the girl beside her.

“...Hey...Mastadons don’t even show up in these movies” It finally dawned on Zack that his newfound favorite prehistoric creature wasn’t going to make an appearance.

“Yeah, like sabertooth tigers do?” Trini laughed from where she was sitting, of course Jason kept quiet...everyone knew it wasn’t a Jurassic Park movie unless there was a T-Rex reeking havoc.

“Shhhh!” Billy’s eyes were still focused on the screen as he waved an arm to try to get his friends to quiet down, “It’s Kimberly’s scene!”

Kimberly exchanged glances with Jason on the other side of the room, she wasn’t quite sure if she liked the idea of Billy calling each dinosaur them. Especially since the Pterodactyls were the ones picking at people and murdering them. Though if Billy could make an attempted joke of ‘Look see the triceratops died, it’s funny because I died’ ...she would have to suck it up and go along with it.

Trini looked away from the movie and focused her attention on the pink ranger next to her. Kimberly must not do horror movies very well as every time something bad happened, in this case a person being mauled by dinosaurs, her eyes would twitch before having to force herself to look away. It didn’t help that the man in Jurassic Park 3 currently struggling to stay alive as two Pterodactyls snipped at him shared a name with Billy.

Against better judgement Trini moved the now empty popcorn bowl down to the floor so there wouldn’t be anything between them. She found Kimberly’s hand underneath a crocheted blanket and squeezed lightly, reassuring her that this was only a movie. “Hey, it’s okay” She kept her voice low so the boys wouldn’t overhear it. “He’s not actually dead”

Kimberly appreciated the gesture, even if she felt like an idiot, they just saved the world from Rita Repulsa and she was having a hard time stomaching a marathon of dinosaur movies. She mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to Trini, not letting go of the other girl’s hand. It was then she sent her a smile that could melt the yellow ranger’s armor into scrap metal.

By the time they reached Jurassic World, the fourth installment of the series, Kimberly had fallen asleep. Her head rested on Trini’s shoulder as her body shifted unconsciously to get more comfortable on the couch. Probably for the best. If she felt uncomfortable watching the bird cage scenes in Jurassic Park 3 she wouldn’t like the long drawn out Pterodactyl related death of the main character’s assistant.  

Trini glanced down to the girl beside her, even when she was sleeping she looked so damn beautiful. Oh no. No, she was not going to crush on the only other girl on the team. No matter how damn pretty she is without even trying.

 

******************

 

When Billy had an idea it was hard to say no to. A recurring theme with the rangers. So when he approached the group with a flyer for a renaissance festival in the next town over they all unanimously agreed that it was a good idea. If anything it would get them out of Angel Grove for an afternoon.

Jason was the only one that had access to a vehicle now that the Cranston van had been utterly destroyed. The pickup truck still wasn’t in the best of shapes. The body still damaged from the cow prank incident but it ran just fine, they were only going on town over after all. Since there wasn’t much room inside the truck, Trini and Zack opted to sit in the bed. Nothing like fresh open air on a warm day.

“What’s on your mind crazy girl?” This wasn’t the first time Zack caught Trini watching Jason and Kim interact. Right now the two of them were fighting over what to listen to on the way down, turning to Billy every now and again as if they were his parents.

Out of everyone in the group, Trini felt like she had a special connection with Zack. Sure he would joke-flirted with her all the time but he seemed to at least clue in on when he should back off. By now he’s picked up on a lot of her quirks and tells. Especially the ‘I’m fine, but really I’m not’ mood. “What do you thinks up with Jase and Kim?” She nodded in their direction, trying to come off as nonchalant.

Really, she shouldn’t ask, she shouldn’t care. If Jason and Kimberly were dating that wasn’t any of their business. Okay maybe a little, as they were supposed to be a team and two teammates dating could cause a potential rift...a shift of dynamics. Not that she’s thought about the long term effects of dating a team member would be. No way.

Zack shrugged, he didn’t seem to think anything out of the ordinary was happening with them. He just figured they were like himself and Trini. Just because they were a boy and girl didn’t have to mean anything. “Uh I dunno? I think they’re just really close” Like Team Mom and Dad of the group.

“Yeah” Trini rolled her eyes, annoyed that he wasn’t on the same page with her line of questioning, “Duh they’re close” She motioned between herself and the other boy, “We’re close too but you’re not shoving your tongue down my throat” That was probably putting it too bluntly. When Zack’s expression changed from confusion to an impish grin, Trini put a finger up, “No don’t even think about it”

Zack wasn’t sure what was more sobering, having to hold onto the frame of the truck as they went over some bumps in the road, or threat level Trini. “I don’t think Jason’s a subtle guy. If they were dating we’d all know about it” He did have a point there. “....Why?”

Trini shrugged a response, looking away from her friend and to the scenery around them. Lots of trees to seemingly take interest in. “Just making conversation”

“Mhmm” Zack wasn’t convinced in the slightest.

 

The team found themselves pleasantly surprised at how much they actually enjoyed the fair. Jason in particular had been skeptical to how this afternoon would go...this wasn’t exactly his scene. Sure the people in costumes and talking in accents were a bit strange but the food...he and Zack scarfed down turkey legs. He’d come back next year for that alone. The girls and Billy settled for something smaller, disgusted watching Jason and Zack eat.

Watching the jousting knights on horses had been exciting, it made the rangers wonder how it would be to do something similar in their armor. Kimberly shot the idea down quickly, for the sake of the horses...or whatever they could find to ride. Jason had enough livestock related incidents to serve a lifetime.

Once the late afternoon the group came across a weapon and target area of the fair. For a couple of dollars they had the chances to throw axes, knives, ninja stars or shoot a bow and arrow. Promising that they would hold back on their strength as much as possible, they thought it’d be fun to participate. Jason and Zack were drawn to the idea of heaving axes at a wooden wall...while Billy elected for the throwing stars, something smaller that he’d have better control over.

Kimberly tugged onto Trini’s arm, she had no interest in throwing weapons when she could be shooting off a bow, she just didn’t want to go alone. Trini would rather spend her money on throwing a knife or trying to best the boys at tossing an axe but if Kim wanted to do the arrow business she wasn’t going to say no. Hell she would never say no to a chance to hang out with the pink ranger alone.

“Have you ever done archery before?” Kimberly asked, handing her friend her set of arrows. The two approached the archery area, getting set up behind the line.

Trini shrugged it off, trying to pay attention to some of the other people there to see how they were standing. “What like it’s hard?”

Kim knew her friend well enough to see that she was totally in over her head with this one, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it. “Here just watch me” Yeah that was the problem.

The shorter girl watched as Kimberly lined up her shot, she should have been focusing on how she held the bow in her hand, or how to pull an arrow back. Nope, the pink ranger had the spell on her...she found herself paying more attention to her friends toned arms and the way her muscles flexed rather than her form. Man, she had to wear a pink tank top. Trini had to bite her lip to force herself to stop staring at her friend.

When Kimberly released her arrow it shot off to the hay bale in front of her, hitting the center of a painted on bulls-eye. Overachiever. “Holy…” Trini blinked, impressed by her friends skill. No wonder she wanted to show it off. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“Summer camp actually” When she was younger, it was easier for her parents to just send her off to camp rather than deal with a kid and juggle traveling for work. Kim didn’t seem to mind, she could always make friends pretty easily. Even then kids naturally gravitated toward her. “I was thinking of applying to be a counselor this summer…” That was before this whole ordeal, after what she did she wasn’t sure if she should even qualify to be a role model for kids. Rather than finishing the thought she got another arrow to shoot, hitting it dead in the center again.

Trini wasn’t going to push it, instead, while Kimberly still had arrows left Trini was going to try and fumble her way into doing this. Trying to mimic her friends stance she got into what she thought was a good position. Damn, this archery stuff really was hard. With a shaky hand she tried pulling back an arrow, not understanding how her friend was able to get it so lined up and solid. Her first shot barely left her hands, the arrow going straight down before her...if it wasn’t a safety rule that she couldn’t pass the line she literally could have picked it up. That was embarrassing. Thank god Kimberly didn’t see and the boys were having too much fun with axes and stars.

The second one she tried to have more tact. She watched Kimberly once more, for educational purposes this time, lining up a second shot. It didn’t reach the hay bale but it at least propelled further before going straight into the grass. Yeah, she totally sucked at this. Throwing knives would’ve been more ideal.

“Hey let me help you” Kimberly gingerly stepped over to her friend, standing behind her to try and help. She didn’t want to startle the yellow ranger with a weapon in hand. “First off you’re going to want to move your feet” The moment Kim’s hands touched Trini’s hips the yellow ranger’s breath hitched. Crap. Okay this was going to be fine.

Kimberly adjusted Trini’s stance, “Okay so you’re going to want to pull your arms like this” Her hands left the shorter girl’s hips so they could hold her arms in the right position. Screw the actual archery, Trini just let Kim move her around like a prop in a Whose Line is it Anyway episode. God now she understood why dudes would always try and hit on women like this, making their bodies touch as they tried to ‘teach them how to do x sporting move’. Right now all she could do was focus on breathing with the taller girl against her back, but even that was proving to be hard, as the moment she breathed in all she could smell was lavender. “You’re doing great”

Thankfully Kimberly couldn’t see Trini’s face as she placed a hand over Trini’s so they could pull the bowstring back together. “Okay I’m going to count down...3...2….1” Together they released the arrow and it actually managed to hit the hay bale in front of them. Not good enough to hit the actual target, but hey, it was better than it going straight into the ground. “...We’ll work on your aim next”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll get the hang of it” With Kimberly helping her line up her next shot Trini thought to herself that she was glad she picked archery over throwing knives. It was the best three dollars she spent that day.

 

******************

 

Jason took being a leader very seriously, especially when it came to training. He would come up with his own schedule now that the group had longer than eleven days to prepare for any oncoming threats. Putty simulations proved to be great for team strategy and partner attacks and combos. He would make sure that every combination of ranger would have a signature go to move. Today he thought it would be best to focus on sparring to see how much they’ve improved over the past couple of weeks.

He split the remaining rangers into two different partners. Zack and Billy, Trini and Kimberly. Jason made sure that Alpha had a way to record these sessions so Jason could look over and review them later. A good football player knows how to watch hours of footage and see where improvements could be made. Same could apply to this.

“Don’t go easy on me” Trini warned her sparring partner, it wouldn’t help either of them if they went soft on one another.

Kimberly could only smirk confidently at the shorter girl in front of her, “Oh bring it” For whatever reason when the two girls sparred on another, they became much more competitive than when they fought the boys. Getting in the last hit...for the record they could both become so smug.

Trini bit back a ‘Bring it On’ comment to the cheerleader, that would’ve been too easy. At Jason’s signal the two began their spar. Much like their time spent at Krispy Kreme the girls found their strength in fast action combat. Their enhanced strength and speed with quick action punches, blocks and jabs it made it challenging to keep up for the boys as they watched the girls as they went at it.  

Being the shortest of the group had its advantage. Trini favored ducking down under Kimberly’s swings and jabbing at her abdomen whenever she saw an opening. Annoyed by the ducking Kim swept a leg underneath the other girls to get her to trip up and stumble back, landing her an opening for a couple more punches that put the yellow ranger on the defensive. Trini had been forced to block the oncoming hits, stepping backwards until her back touched the wall. Damn it Kimberly.

The pink power ranger made the mistake of reeling her fist back to try and land a heavier hit. Trini saw her opportunity and made haste to seize it. She grabbed the taller girl’s wrist as Kimberly tried to connect a solid punch, and then spun the pair. Trini now had control of the fight as she now had Kimberly’s hand twisted behind her back and her front pinned against the wall. To add insult to the hold, Trini leaned up behind her friend and with a confident smirk she said, “Pinned ya”

Kimberly just sighed heavily and rested her forehead against the cavern wall in a moment of defeat. She didn’t even need to look at her friend, she just knew with her tone that she must’ve looked so damn smug. Ugh. It didn’t help her case that the boys were clapping from a distance.

“You girls did great!” Jason stepped over to his two friends, putting a hand on Trini’s shoulder so she would release her hold on Kim. “Zack, Billy are you two ready to go next?”

As the boys were standing up, getting ready for their own sparring match, Kimberly shot Trini a look. “Best two out of three?”

“Whoa what? You wanna go again?” Trini rested her hands on her hips, staring at the girl in front of her in disbelief, “I mean sure, I can kick your ass again”

“........Okay” Jason knew it was best if he didn’t put himself in the middle of this one, he was just going to let the girls blow of whatever steam they needed to get rid of. He returned to his place with Zack, Billy and Alpha. “Here’s a good tip, know when to pick your battles”

The girls returned to the center of the pit so they could start a fresh fight. Right now Kimberly had more to prove as she needed to win this battle to make it even. She couldn’t lose after making it a point to extend their sparring to a best of three.

Trini found herself quickly on the defensive again just as the battle began. Man this girl was a pain in the ass when she was trying to prove something. Blocked punch after blocked punch, Trini could feel herself walking backwards yet again. Did Kim not learn anything from this last fight? It was too late for Trini to realize that falling into a blocking pattern had been exactly what Kimberly had wanted. With Trini trying to block whatever upper body attack was coming, she didn’t anticipate Kimberly doing a backbend to use her legs and kick up at the yellow ranger, forcing her on her back. Freaking cheerleader with a gymnast background, the girl was like a goddamn bendy straw.

Kimberly put her foot on Trini’s chest to keep her pinned down, confidently smiling at her quick thinking and a bait and switch. “What was that about kicking my ass ‘again’?” The defeated girl could only narrow her eyes at the ranger above her.

Oh it was so on now. Trini swatted at Kimberly’s leg to get her foot off of her chest, “One more round. Winner takes it all” The yellow ranger had to dust herself off as she got to her feet, “You won’t get lucky again”

This was it, the fight to end it all. Both girls were pulling out tougher moves, Trini as agile as she is could use the cavern walls to bounce off of and give her height advantage to swing down hits. Kimberly on the other hand used more leg work, the girl was a cheerleader so she used that to her advantage as much as she could. She knew how to balance on her hands when it was needed to send powerful kicks. Even if Trini managed to grab one of her legs and flip her back, Kimberly could land on her feet.

Zack and Jason decided to make things more interesting and put five dollars each on their girl to win. Every time Trini landed a good hit, Zack would call out ‘That’s my girl!’ and when it seemed that Kimberly had Trini on the rocks Jason would only look smug. Billy, the angel that he was, didn’t want to choose between his friends so he would continually call out positive reinforcements whenever either girl landed a hit. Alpha just shook his head….teenagers.

Exhaustion had started to creep up on the girls fighting, this was their third round back to back and neither seemed to be letting up. Taking a note from Jason’s football tactics, Trini lunged forward wrapping an arm around Kimberly’s waist and tackling her down. Kimberly, not expecting a move like that was knocked to the ground, Trini tumbling on top of her. Before she knew it the yellow ranger grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head. “Pinned ya again” Trini smirked down to the ranger beneath her as the other girl tried to catch her breath.

“Nice move” Kimberly relented, she could admit that she was bested...if she had to lose to anyone she didn’t mind it being Trini. “Next time I’ll end up on top”

“Yeah, right, I’d like to see you try” She thought she played that off confidently enough. But shit all it took was Kimberly saying those words for Trini to picture the scenario...what it would be like to be pinned to the ground with Kimberly holding her wrists. What it would be like to be kissed by Kimberly Hart.    

“Woo! Yeah!” Zack, Trini’s number one fan, hollered both of his arms extending into the air before making a reluctant Jason pay up the five dollars he owed him. It broke Trini out of her gay thoughts and made her realize she was still on top of her friend. Yeah she was lingering on this too long, so she got up and offered her hand to Kimberly so she could get up off the ground as well.

“Alright, Billy...Zack it’s your turn to spar. The girls need to tap out and have a water break” Jason could tell that the girls were tiring out and he didn’t want to overexert them...he also felt relieved that Kimberly didn’t try to pull a best out of five. Being around a football team and competitive teenagers, Jason always witnessed escalations.

As Zack passed Trini, he handed her a water bottle and patted her shoulder whispering a, “Girl, you’ve got it bad” He already made it to the center of the cave when she registered what he had said. Oh no. If he noticed something did that mean Kim did too?

 

Once training let out Trini decided to hang back and wait until Jason, Kimberly and Billy left before she would confront Zack on his comment. “Hey!” Seeing the boy away she shuffled to catch up to him, “What’d you mean back there?”

Zack laughed, he knew that this was coming, he tilted his head to the side giving Trini a ‘really?’ kind of look, “Yeah, I’m not blind...you’ve got a mad crush on Kimberly. Hey I don’t blame you she’s…” He wasn’t sure if he should be saying this around a fellow teammate but this was Trini, his best friend, “She’s really hot” Actually, if he were to speak frankly this band of misfits were all pretty smoking.

“I don’t-” She tried to argue but it was hard to lie when he kept giving her that stupid face when he thinks he knows what she’s actually feeling. Okay so he was right big deal. “You tell anyone and I swear to Zordon that I will shove you down the mine”

“Hey hey, whoa, I’m your guy” He held up his hands defensively, for such a small girl she carried around so much bite, “Your secrets are always safe with me. Even if they’re so painfully obvious” When she scrunched up her face he further explained, or rather mocked, “Zack what’s going on with Kimberly and Jason?” He tried to mimic her tiny voice, “Kimberly can you show me how to shoot a bow?” Trini clocked him in the arm hard enough that he would actually feel the pain, “Ow!” He held onto where it smarted, okay yeah he deserved that. “It was obvious!”

Trini gritted her teeth, she was normally so much better at hiding her feelings when it came to girls...but none of them were like Kimberly. Trini had moved around too much before so she could never really get too attached. All it took here was eleven days with these losers and she was ready to die for them. “What do I do?”  

“Uhhhhhh ask her out” Zack shrugged, it seemed pretty obvious to him what she should do. Kimberly would be an idiot if she turned down Trini.

“No” Trini shook her head, “No! I’m not going to risk ruining the best friendship I’ve ever had over a stupid crush.” It happens, gay best friend falls for the straight girl and it’s the worst, she did not want to have to deal with it. She could push it down like any other feeling she’s ever had, “...Besides she’s straight” She murmured, her voice small.

Despite Trini shrinking into herself, Zack heard her, his brow twitched at that, “I’m not so sure” He snapped his fingers, “You want me to find out for you? I could be your lesbro, your wingman...your-”

“What? No! Don’t talk to her about this” She snapped, moving to stand in front of him so he would stop walking, “You don’t think she could put two and two together?”

“Nah, I’ll be really cool about it” Zack liked the idea of being Trini’s wingman, heck it gave him something to do. Besides he’d love to see these two together...if Trini was going to be stubborn about the whole thing, she could use the help. “Leave it to me” He winked, walking around her so he could head in the direction of the trailer park.

Trini could only shake her head as she watched him leave. “...Shit...” No matter what she would say there was no stopping that boy if he had something on his mind.

 

******************

 

The rainy nights were the hardest to get through. Ever since Rita Repulsa invaded her bedroom Trini would get flashes of memories that channeled into nightmares. All of them seemingly to be the same...she couldn’t shake that sinking of dread. Tonight Trini tossed and turned as she slept. Usually she relived moments of Rita with her hand around her throat squeezing the life out of her, rancid breath in her face. She could never forget that voice, those eyes...the utmost glee at her demise. Some nights Trini dreamed of the night at the dock, helplessly tied to the boat. She could never forget Zack’s screams as he was seconds from death….she could never forget Billy.

That laugh haunted her.

Tonight proved to be different, it was a dream about something that had never happened, but it felt so real. During the final fight with Rita and Goldar the villainous pair had the team on the ropes, still unable to find the location of the Krispy Kreme. Kimberly’s zord was knocked out of the sky by the golden goliath, having caught fire she needed to get out before she suffocated by the flames.

Trini’s heart race intensified but she couldn’t wake up.

Kim, stupid dream Kim, continued to fight on...while the other four worked together to try and take down Goldar she went up against Rita one on one. With her armor in tact she stood for a better chance against the villainess. Kimberly landed a few good blows in but Rita deftly out skilled her in hand to hand combat, especially with her trusty staff. Feeling powerless to help her, Trini watched as Rita took advantage of a stunned Kimberly, stabbing the bottom of her staff into her chest piece.

“No!” The yellow ranger jolted awake, a hand to her chest to try and calm her erratic breathing. It was just a dream. Another horrible dream. The girl looked to her alarm clock next to her, three in the morning. After a dream like that there was no use trying to get back to sleep.

God all she wanted to do was call Kimberly, make sure she was okay, hear her voice. It was stupid she was probably fine...she was probably sleeping like a normal person. She grabbed her phone from her where it was charging on her end table, it shaking in her hand. She shouldn’t bother her. She shouldn’t.

It was as if her hand and brain weren’t connected and it was too late, she was already calling Kimberly. Part of her hoped that she wouldn’t hear the phone and wake the other girl up, the other part just really longed to hear her voice. A confirmation that she was okay.

Second ring….third ring….she wasn’t going to pick up. This was stupid.

“Hello?” A groggy Kimberly’s voice suddenly came over the phone, she picked up...she’s alive. “Trini? It’s three in the morning is everything okay?”

“Y-yeah I’m fine I just…” Shit, her voice cracked, “I’m fine”

“Yeah, you definitely sound fine” Trini could hear that the other girl was moving out of bed, “You can tell me, what’s wrong?”

Trini relented, biting her bottom lip before explaining, “It was just a stupid nightmare” Kimberly deserved that much. “I don’t even know why I called” She lied, she knew exactly why she called, “Go back to bed”

“...It’s okay I’m awake now...do you want to talk about it?” There was a pause, “Do you need me to come over?”

“What? No, don’t be ridiculous” She didn’t want to inconvenience the girl anymore than she already had, “It’s raining”

“Like that’ll stop me” Trini could just picture the way Kim would shake her head, “Just leave your window open. I can sneak out in the morning your parents won’t even know”

“You don’t have to do that…”

“I’m sure I’m not the first girl you’ve had to kick out of bed” Kimberly quietly laughed, but stopped when she heard silence on the other end, “...I’m sorry that wasn’t funny”

“I mean you’re not wrong” Trini admitted rubbing the back of her neck, “Fine okay, come over, but be quiet” Just as Kimberly was about to hang up the call, Trini quietly issued a “...Thanks Kim”

“Anytime”

 

The advantages of having these newfound powers was that Kimberly could run across town and jump to Trini’s second floor window with relative ease and quickness. What would normally be a 45 minute bike ride turned into about a 15 minute sprint. “Hey it’s me” The pink ranger spoke softly as she entered Trini’s bedroom...noting that there were still cracks and broken things from her fight with Rita.

“Jeez you’re soaking” Trini got out from under her covers and moved to close the window behind her friend, “Here I’ll get you something to wear” She found some flannel pants and an oversized revocation t-shirt, at least their height difference wouldn’t be a problem with these.

“Oh...I didn’t realize you were so into...metal” Kimberly frowned at the band t-shirt that Trini had come up with, but regardless shed the wet clothes she was wearing in favor for the dry t-shirt with gruesome imagery.

“Don’t worry Princess, you look good in anything you wear” She admitted, if Trini wasn’t so shaken up about her nightmare she would’ve taken a better mental note of Kimberly wearing her clothes in her room.

Kimberly moved to sit on the foot of Trini’s bed, now awake from her run, she patted the spot next to her so Trini could join her. “You’re safe with me…you don’t have to be afraid to talk”

The yellow ranger sat down next to her friend, she couldn’t look at her as she explained, she couldn’t look at the damage in her room so she settled for her hands. “I’ve been having nightmares” Kim only nodded, urging her friend to continue with a gentle touch to her arm, “Most of the time it’s just flashes of stuff that’s happened y’know? Reliving this shit” She motioned around her room, Kimberly could catch on quickly.

“God I couldn’t imagine” Rita was terrifying enough for Kimberly, but she didn’t have a one on one confrontation with her...in her home in her bedroom...in her bed somewhere she should always feel safe. She started to rub circles into her friends back, trying to soothe her. “But it’s a dream...you bitch slapped her all the way to space. She’s not coming back”

Trini knew that, of course she knew that, but it wasn’t going to stop the lingering thoughts from coming into her mind at night, “Tonight was different” Trini shook her head, fighting back the tears starting to form in her eyes, “It wasn’t me stuck in a memory….she….” Her jaw quivered and she tilted her head up to look at her ceiling, she wasn’t going to let herself cry. “She killed you, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it”

“....Oh...” Kimberly wrapped her arms around her friend, a reassurance that she was indeed fine and breathing, “I’m right here, it’s going to take more than that bitch to kill me” She moved to place a hand on the girl’s cheek as Trini’s gaze was still focused on the ceiling, “Hey look at me, Trini...I need you to look at me”

Trini obliged, tilting her head back down so she could look into the other girl’s eyes, cursing herself when she blinked and felt the first tear fall down her face. She was supposed to be stronger than this.

“I’m okay, you’re okay...we’re okay” Her hand moved from from the other girl’s cheek to her thigh, “Did you want to try going back to sleep?” They could potentially get in a couple more hours before Kimberly would have to crawl through the window and leave. Trini silently nodded, giving Kimberly permission to help her get back under the covers.

Kimberly laid on her back, staring at the ceiling, she was doing a bad job at controlling her face...she looked so concerned about the crack in the ceiling above her. A reminder of Trini’s struggle constantly above her. It was hard not to feel bad about it. “Next time, we’re having a sleepover at my place” Kimberly murmured, she would guess that a change of scenery would do Trini some good.

Trini laid down on her side, taking comfort in Kimberly’s arms as she rested a head on her chest. She could get used to the idea of snuggling up at her friend’s side...without the horrible nightmares of course. “I’d like that”

“Get some sleep…” Kimberly stroked the other girls hair, trying to get her to relax as much as possible. Listening to the sound of Kimberly’s heartbeat helped...her friend was alive, Rita didn’t win.

 

By the time Trini had woken up in the morning she found herself alone in bed, Kimberly had vanished. It made her question if she was even there to begin with…she sighed deeply, the scent of lavender on the pillow beside her. Kimberly was definitely there last night, she didn’t dream it. Trini checked her phone to see a text message.

 

_Kimberly Hart 7:27_

_I didn’t want to wake you. No worries your parents have no idea. That and sleeping with wet hair, so not a good idea :( :( :(_

 

Trini shook her head at her friends message, a smile creeping on her face, of course she would worry about what her morning hair looked like. What an adorable idiot.

 

******************

 

It had been a couple of days since Trini’s nightmare incident, Kimberly had been overly looking after her. Making sure the boys didn’t rough her up too badly in training. Constantly having her back when they faced multiple fake puttys. She’s such the mom friend of the group. This morning she sent Trini a text message that read

 

_Kimberly Hart: 9:32_

_Hey, can you meet me at our spot?_

 

Trini typed out a message saying that she could meet her after lunch with her parents, so around 1:30 they made plans to meet at their spot...Kimberly promising to bring donuts. After the Rita incident, Krispy Kreme sort of turned into a big inside joke amongst the rangers and they would constantly have donuts to their hangouts. 

Lunch with her family went how it normally does, her mom asking her a questions a mile a minute, getting frustrated that Trini doesn’t respond to many of them and her dad trying to settle on one question to ask. Her brothers next to her seemingly too interested in their food or toys to really comprehend their sister and parents quibble.

“I just want to know a little more about the friends you keep seeing. Why haven’t you invited them over to dinner? Or even just to hang out? Are you embarrassed of the house? You aren’t allowed to take them into your room, so that shouldn’t be a problem”

Trini just stared at her mom wide eyed, the last thing she wanted to subject her friends to was her overbearing mother asking them a million questions. Her father cleared his throat and decided to go with the safest question, “What’re your friends like?”

“They’re the best” Trini responded, playing with the fork in her hand, hoping that her brief answer would cover it. Judging by her mom’s expression it clearly wasn’t enough, so she had to give more details. Ugh. She hated sharing. “Well there’s Jason, he’s a pretty cool guy. Kind of the leader of our rag tag group...used to play football but uh” Shouldn’t mention the ankle bracelet, “Got hurt” Of course her mother smiled at that, ugh, being friends with a jock. Oh it must mean that her daughter would learn the ways of the mainstream culture.

“And there’s Billy, freaking nerd”

“Language Trini” Her mother scolded, to which Trini rolled her eyes, yeah as if freaking was a swear word.

“He’s probably the most genuine guy I’ll ever know uh and Zack he’s a wild one. We get along great, he gets me” God she could see her mother trying to process which of these three boys Trini could possibly have an interest in. She completely ignored when Trini came out to them, saying that she had no interest in boys...her mother insisted that it was just a phase, and that their most recent move had nothing to do with her ‘girlfriend’.

“And then there’s Kim, she’s uh a cheerleader” Trini tried to shrug Kimberly off as an afterthought. She did not want her parents to be hounding her on her current crush.

“You’re friends with a cheerleader?” Her mother reached over to hold her father’s hand. Being friends with Kim didn’t mean she would start dressing like a prep...heh if anything Trini was sure she was the one influencing Kimberly to dress a little more tough.

“I’m friends with a cheerleader” Trini repeated, her brothers sending her a bewildered look. What parallel universe have they gone to?

“And” Her mother cleared her throat, “You’re just friends?” Trini knew what she was getting at, she could tell by how uncomfortably she shifted in her chair and how she squeezed her husband's hand or support.

“Yeah, you’ve got nothing to worry about” As far as Trini was concerned her friend’s extremely straight. “...We’re just friends…”

 

Trini thanked any god that she could think of when she could finally leave that awkward lunch, her house and see Kimberly. Heck she would go to school if it meant avoiding talking about herself to her nosy ‘means well’ mother. At least she seemed to like the idea of Kim being in her life, shocker. Everyone in Angel Grove seemed to love and have an opinion on Kimberly Hart, well not Amanda and Rebecca but that’s none of Trini’s business.

“Boy am I happy to see you” Trini breathed out a huge sigh of relief as she came up to their spot in the quarry. Whenever Kimberly would say ‘their spot’ she referred to the area where she tricked Trini into lending her a water bottle only to grab her and jump down a cliff. Such fond memories. Now it became sort of a joke...not dying brings out the humor in everyone. “What’s up?”

Kimberly seemed to be a bit on edge for whatever reason, Trini was quick to notice that there was something on the girl’s mind. She could tell by the way she stood, her arms folded across her chest..it made her wonder how long she had been up here. “Kim?”

“Yeah, sorry, just thinking” She apologized, bending down to pick up the Krispy Kreme bag and handing it to her friend. “How was lunch?”

“Oh ho” Trini wasn’t going to let Kim get away with this, it wasn’t the first time she tried to avoid a subject by trying to care for other people. She’d come back to this, “Oh it went great. My mom’s thrilled that I’m friends with a cheerleader. She thinks you’ll be a good influence on me” Trini smiled, noticing that Kimberly brought her favorite type of donut. She could use some good ol’ chocolate frosting.

“Ha” Kimberly bit back a laugh, “Did you tell her I was the one that’s stuck in detention for punching Tai’s tooth out?”

“Mmm nope that didn’t come up” Trini grinned innocently, “Besides that’s none of her business. I just wish she’d get off my back. You know?”

“I know…” Kimberly sighed, sitting herself on the edge of the cliff, “My dad screamed at me in the parking lot for doing this to my hair” She ran a hand through her short locks, considering the type of scissors she used to cut it...she did a damn good job with it.

“Ah screw him” Trini waved it off, sitting down next to her friend, licking the remaining bits of chocolate frosting off of her thumb and fingers. She didn’t notice the look Kimberly sent her by doing that right next to her. “I think it looks badass” it was true, “uh...pretty, I meant pretty” Trini shook her head, that sounded too much like how a not-so friend would compliment a crush, “...Pretty badass...” Good save yellow ranger.

Kimberly only watched in amusement as Trini struggled with how to compliment the other girl’s hair. “Hey um” She glanced down the cliff below, Trini quickly caught onto the normally confident girl’s hesitancy, “I’m really sorry”

“For what?” Trini stared at her incredulously, what the hell did Kimberly Hart have to apologize to her about? For bringing her a donut? For making sure that she was okay after having a horrible nightmare? Kimberly had been nothing but a great friend that she didn’t deserve. This girl had nothing to freaking apologize for.

And then it happened. Kimberly leaned forward and pressed her lips onto Trini’s in a kiss. How Trini managed to fall for the 'I'm sorry before doing something dramatic thing' twice in the same spot was beyond her. The yellow ranger’s eyes widened in shock, Kimberly Hart was kissing her? This actually wasn’t a dream? Once she comprehended what was happening she moved a hand behind Kimberly’s neck, not wanting Kimberly to think that she didn’t want this, escalating the kiss.

Kimberly was the first to pull away from the kiss before the intensity would rise too quickly, “I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile now…” She admitted uncharacteristically sheepish, “I’m so sorry if-”

Trini didn’t let her finish that sentence, leaning forward to capture her lips with her own, “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while too”  
  
When Kimberly rested a hand over hers and leaned in for another kiss, Trini graciously accepted her fate. The pink power ranger had a hold on her heart and by the way Kimberly’s lips moved against her own...Trini was perfectly happy with that. Damn it and she just told her mom that Kimberly was just a friend, that sure as hell wasn't true anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm going to write a companion piece from Kimberly's perspective, if that's a good idea?


End file.
